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Business North - The Daily Briefing - Business Newspaper Online
Superior Publishing moves some print editions online
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10/29/2009 by Beth Bily |
Superior Publishing Corp. announced today that it would replace one print edition per week at three of its newspapers with an E-Edition to be published on the papers' websites. The changes will go into effect next week.
The Hibbing Daily Tribune, Mesabi Daily News in Virginia and Ashland Daily Press are the three affected papers. The Hibbing Daily Tribune and Mesabi Daily News will replace Monday print editions with an online E-edition, while Ashland will replace its Tuesday print product with an online one.
“These changes are part of overall strategy to enhance the newspapers’ multi-media presence and leverage the value of the Internet while maintaining full news coverage for the community,” said Charles Johnson, president of Superior Publishing, of this latest move.
Mesabi Daily News Executive Editor Bill Hanna declined comment on operations when contacted by BusinessNorth.
The changes, which reduce printing costs, come in the wake of less than favorable financial news about the regional newspaper company, which owns a total of 11 weeklies and dailies in Northeast Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin. On Oct. 13, Australia-based Macquarie Media Group, announced that its subsidiary, American Consolidated Media - parent of Superior Publishing - faced violation of two key loan covenants.
American Consolidated Media carries a $133 million debt load. Cash flows remain positive for Dallas-based American Consolidated Media and sufficient to service debt, but profits for the third quarter were down 21 percent, year over year.
Signs that Superior Publishing sought to enhance its revenue stream came even before the Macquarie announcement. In September, three Superior Publishing Corp. papers, the Hibbing Daily Tribune, Mesabi Daily News and Grand Rapids Herald-Review began charging readers without a print subscription for full access to online content.
The move to paid online content was considered bold by some regional industry watchers, but Johnson contends: “The industry as a whole is moving toward a paid content model.”
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